About
The long version.
The short version: senior leadership at 23, Soccer Post, the construction turnaround, ProvenChaos. Here is what happened in between.
The climb
I got a leadership seat young, senior leadership at 23, and learned the job the expensive way: in public, with payroll due.
At Soccer Post we went from $5.9 million to $15 million in eighteen months, then past $25 million. Thirty-five stores across thirteen states, the second-largest seller of soccer equipment in the country. The Franchise 500 noticed three times. I also sold TotallySoccer.
Later I ran NFFS, a construction company, from $7 million to $30 million in three years. Inc. 500 twice, the fastest-growing company in Jacksonville, a Best Places to Work award, and an Ultimate CEO nod from the Jacksonville Business Journal. Proof that you can build a company people actually want to work for and still outperform.
What the lists did not show: hundred-hour weeks, sleeping at the office, keeping score with effort because I did not know another currency.
The floor
This one came early, not at the end. On Valentine’s Day, at twenty-six, my body filed a complaint. Chest pain. Blood pressure at 195 over 96. A hospital bed instead of dinner reservations.
I was winning by every scoreboard my industry kept, and losing by the only ones that matter. Then I got up and went back to work, and kept going for years.
That is where the question behind everything since came from. Why does growth have to feel like this? It does not. Chaos is a design flaw, and design flaws have fixes.
I have written around this a few times since. I’m Dying (and so are you) is the one people send to their friends.
Since then
Five companies led across B2B and B2C: manufacturing, internet, construction. Since stepping out of the operator’s seat I have advised more than 100 B2B companies, from the first million in revenue to just under a billion.
Today that work is ProvenChaos: coaching, strategic planning, a CEO group of twelve B2B chief executives who meet one full day a month by invitation, and the frameworks that exist because I did it wrong first. I host the Best Places to Lead podcast and speak on stages around the world.
The mission is plain: positively impact five million people through better business.
Off the clock
Jacksonville is home. I am a husband and a father first, which took me an embarrassingly long time to actually mean.
Most mornings start the same way: intentions written down before the day starts making its own demands. Most weeks include an OrangeTheory class I complain about and feel better for. I keep my keys on a hook by the door, because I am not especially disciplined. I just build systems that make discipline unnecessary.
Where to go from here
The business work lives at ProvenChaos.com: coaching, planning, the CEO group, the frameworks, and the weekly letter. The personal writing is in the essays.